


Oh, I do like to be beside the sea

by sazzlette (notallbees)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, First Kiss, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 08:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14445243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notallbees/pseuds/sazzlette
Summary: When Sirius asks Harry what he'd like to do for his nineteenth birthday, Harry decides that the question deserves some serious consideration. After all, it's not as if he's ever really given it much thought before.





	Oh, I do like to be beside the sea

**Author's Note:**

> did u know sirry was my OTP. fun fact.
> 
> another ancient repost.

When Sirius asks Harry what he'd like to do for his nineteenth birthday, Harry decides that the question deserves some serious consideration. After all, it's not as if he's ever really given it much thought before.   
  
"I'd like to go to the beach," he says at last.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I've never been."   
  
\--   
  
In the typical fashion of British weather, the day is cool and overcast, and it turns out that perhaps Brighton isn't the best place to go anyway. There's an awful lot of rocks, and not a huge amount of beach, but the wind coming off the sea feels  _ fantastic _  on Harry's skin, and he really couldn't care less if they were in the Bahamas or Brighton.   
  
Sirius and Harry sit side by side on the pebbles, Harry with his knees drawn up and chin resting on them, Sirius sprawled and leaning on his elbows.    
  
"We should do this all day," Harry says into the wind.    
  
"Sit around getting piles?"   
  
"No, pillock." Harry laughs and pushes Sirius over. "I mean we should spend the day doing things we've never done before."   
  
"Well I can't think of anything I've never done."   
  
"You'd better think of something then because it's your turn."   
  
Sirius sits up and looks around thoughtfully for inspiration. Suddenly he grabs Harry by the shoulder of his pullover and drags him to his feet.    
  
"I've never walked along Brighton pier."   
  
\--   
  
They buy fish and chips from an Eastern European man with an unplaceable accent and walk slowly along the pier, Muggle coins heavy in their pockets and chip paper rough and greasy between their fingers. Rows of striped deckchairs line the centre of the walkway, stacked neatly between the benches, and signs saying  **Please Do Not Feed The Birds**  interrupt the railings.    
  
"Your turn," says Sirius through a mouthful of chips. Harry sticks his tongue out and glances up at the odd structures at the other end of the pier.   
  
"I've never been to a funfair."   
  
\--   
  
Coloured flags streak overhead and deckchairs litter the boardwalk. The music from the arcade is punctuated by the sounds of gulls mewing, and overlaid with the rustling roar of the sea beneath them. Harry buys a roll of tokens from a girl in a ticket booth, and he and Sirius set off in the direction of the rollercoaster. On the way they pass the Helter Skelter, twisting above them in white and red with a sign saying  **Closed due to adverse weather conditions.**   
  
They hand over four tokens each for the rollercoaster and squeeze into the front car, knees pressed tightly together and hands lined up on the cold metal bar. The first corner shoves Harry into Sirius, and Sirius puts an arm round his shoulders and pulls him close (though how they can even  _ get _  any closer Harry doesn't know). He puts his hand over Sirius' on the bar and their laughter is torn from their throats as the rollercoaster plummets and rolls along the track.   
  
In the arcade afterwards they change a pound coin for ten pence pieces, and Sirius shows Harry how to wait until the little kids have used up all their coins and then take the jackpot when the machine is ready to spill over. They shove their winnings (a couple of pounds' worth) into their pockets and use it to buy lollypops from one of the stalls on the pier. Sirius says he's never had Muggle sweets before (could never stand Dumbledore's sherbert lemons), which makes it Harry's turn again. They sit on deckchairs and watch the tide roaring in and sliding out again, while Harry sucks his lolly and thinks of something to do.    
  
"I've never had a pint," he says at length, still rolling the lollypop around on his tongue.   
  
Sirius grins. "And I've never bought you one." He stands up and offers Harry his arm. "Shall we?"   
  
\--   
  
It's warm and comfortable in the pub, smoky but not too crowded. The two of them shuffle into a corner and perch opposite one another on four legged stools.    
  
"Bottoms up," says Sirius, nudging a glass towards Harry and picking up the other.   
  
The drink is weak and bitter and Harry thinks somewhat longingly of butterbeer, but he drinks it anyway, swallowing it down too quickly, trying to keep even with Sirius. By the time Sirius returns with a second pint Harry is growing used to the taste, and he concentrates instead on the handful of playing cards he's holding. Sirius is teaching him to play poker, though the beer has made his head a little hazy and he's not really focussing on the game properly.    
  
When they step outside again, the slight chill in the air nips sharply at Harry's skin and after the warmth of the pub it makes him reel.    
  
"Never been drunk," he mumbles apologetically, leaning on Sirius' arm.   
  
Sirius grins. "Never seen anyone drunk off a pint and a half of bitter."   
  
Harry glares at him, but not too much, because he's still using Sirius as a leaning post.   
  
"Come on," says Sirius, taking his hand. "Walk along the beach will do you good."   
  
\--   
  
The sky is a thick heavy grey and the ocean mirrors it, dull and restless. The last storm Harry remembers on his birthday is the night he met Hagrid, and he feels a sudden, awful sense of nostalgia, thinking about how much that first letter changed his life. Rain is starting to fall now, a miserable drizzle that isn't  _ quite _  heavy enough to warrant seeking shelter.    
  
"Knut for your thoughts?"   
  
Harry smiles faintly, still watching the waves smashing over the pebbles. He turns to look at Sirius. "I've never kissed anyone in the rain."   
  
"Funny that." Sirius smudges a thumb across Harry's cheekbone, just below where his glasses rest. "Neither have I."   
  
Later they dance along the promenade, laughing as they splash through puddles and run through the dim haze from streetlights, and then they just sit on the beach, huddled tight to keep warm, and Sirius presses a kiss to Harry's temple and whispers  _ Happy Birthday _ .


End file.
